Pakistan has encouraged its oil refineries to explore imports of Libyan crude so it can widen supply if important sea routes are disrupted, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said on Monday. He spoke after meeting Libya’s oil and gas minister in Riyadh, where the Libyan side said it would encourage larger sales to Pakistani buyers. No quantity and no supply contract were announced.
The talks were held on the sidelines of the 17th International Energy Forum, a meeting of energy ministers in the Saudi capital. Malik met Khalifa Rajab Abdulsadek, Libya’s minister of oil and gas. He said refineries in Pakistan had been encouraged to examine this option so the country would still have a route for oil if shipping were disrupted in the Strait of Hormuz or the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
What the ministers discussed
Abdulsadek described Pakistan as an important country for Libya. He said he would encourage Libya’s national oil company to allocate greater volumes of Libyan crude to Pakistani companies. Libya plans to upgrade its refineries, and he said he wanted to learn from Pakistan’s work on modernising its own plants.
Malik is attending the forum at the invitation of Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister. In a session on investment and trade, he said secure supply, prices people can afford and cleaner energy now have to be pursued together. New spending, he said, is still required in oil and gas, critical minerals and networks such as power grids and pipelines, alongside renewable energy.
The 2026 supply shock
Malik said the global energy supply shock of 2026 had reached shipping and insurance as well as oil and gas. He said Pakistan relies heavily on imported energy but had not rationed major fuels, crediting the government’s response and support from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait.
He said work is under way on long-term energy security through strategic reserves, a world-class bonded reserves scheme for holding stored fuel, higher production inside Pakistan, refineries and tank farms, competitive markets for electricity and gas, and targeted relief. He said international rules on energy investment and trade should keep new technology and cleaner supply in balance with affordability, fairness and access. Pakistan, he added, wants to work with other forum members on those goals.
Qatar, Türkiye and domestic exploration
Malik also met Qatar’s energy minister, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, over breakfast to discuss possible cooperation on liquefied natural gas, gas cooled into liquid form so ships can carry it. Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said he expected to visit Pakistan next month to receive a seismic survey ship operated by Türkiye’s national oil company, TPAO. The vessel is expected to start collecting data in the Indus Basin, sound-wave readings that help map underground rock as Pakistan looks for energy of its own.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Pakistan apni refineries se keh raha hai ke woh Libya se kacha tel laane ka rasta dekhein. Libya ke wazir ne kaha ke woh apni sarkari oil company se Pakistani kharidaron ke liye zyada tel rakhwane ki koshish karenge. Abhi koi miqdar tay nahi hui aur koi sauda pakka nahi hua. Aam logon ke petrol ya gas ke bill is khabar se foran nahi badlenge.
